The National Museum of Ireland - Country Life is located at Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo, and is just a 30 minute drive from Mayo's section of the Wild Atlantic Way.
Offering the opportunity to immerse yourself in objects, rare archive photography and films that explore Ireland’s rural past and an almost vanished but recent way of life, The National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, features exhibition highlights like 'Straw, Hay and Rushes' which explores exceptional Irish crafting traditions, and 'Life in the Community', which depicts a year-in-the-life of our rural ancestors.
Turlough Park House
The museum includes two buildings; a modern, purpose built building, and Turlough Park House, a moderately sized 'big house'. A Victorian Gothic mansion with extensive gardens, parkland and woodland, Turlough Park House was built in 1865 to replace a much older building which was located near the entrance of the park.
Providing insight into the lives of rural Irish people throughout Irish history, The National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, educates its visitors on how our rural ancestors lived. Now a museum, Turlough Park House was once the home of the Fitzgerald Family, with the estate being granted to the Fitzgeralds under the Cromwellian land settlements of the mid-seventeenth century.
With the estate consisting of almost 8,500 acres, the Fitzgerald family employed a number of indoor servants and outdoor estate workers to maintain the house and lands. In 1915, the estate was purchased and redistributed to local farmers by the Congested Districts Board. In 1991, Turlough Park House was purchased by Mayo County Council. The decision to open the house as a museum was a local initiative, which led eventually to the site being chosen as a host for a National Museum of Ireland's 'country life' facility in 1995.
Award-winning gardens
Visitors to the museum can reconnect with nature, unwind, refresh and reflect on their newly acquired knowledge in the award-winning gardens of Turlough Park. Boasting 30 acres of formal Victorian gardens, an impressive round tower and idyllic parkland, woodland and waterside walks.
Open year round, the gardens of Turlough Park have been cultivated to entice and delight no matter the season. Home to a rich variety of birdlife, flora and fauna, Turlough Park's status as both a 'Green Flag' biodiverse space, and a Green Heritage site. Turlough Park is both a stunning visitor destination and a lush, biodiverse haven.
Interesting garden features include the glass house, a lean-to vinery, various outdoor art installations, a mix of fine mature trees, flower beds, borders and more.
Facilities and admission
The museum offers a year-round programme of workshops, talks and tours for all ages and a changing programme of temporary exhibitions on historical and contemporary themes. There is also a café and gift shop onsite.
Turlough Park House's former 'service area', which once accommodated the kitchen and stable block, now incorporates visitor facilities such as the gift shop and café.
Admission to the museum is free, and it is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm, and Sunday and Monday from 1pm to 5pm.
